Reservoir Park will again be jumping to the music of the big band era as the Summer Sunday series presents “The Big Band Sound, Incorporated” at 6 p.m., August 10, on the amphitheater stage.
This talented group of musicians from a four-county area is a blend of players with years of combined training and experience which is evident with their amazing sound and smooth style. With a repertoire of over three hundred musical arrangements, the BBS, Inc. uses the full instrumentation of the original big bands.
The Big Band Sound, Inc., now in its thirty-seventh year, was begun by retired music teacher, Richard Burkholder under the auspices of the Mount Union Area School District as an adult education program. Throughout the years the band members have changed, and there are no longer any of the original members still playing. The band continues to claim Mount Union as its home and is supported in part by the MU School District for thirteen weeks of rehearsals to prepare the season’s concerts.
The BBS, Inc., now led by Frank Furfaro, is a full 18-piece group like original big bands, but has added the more up to date electric bass. The saxophone section is comprised of Dixie Enyeart, Tate Pollock, Phil Wysocki, Gretchen Burkholder, and Bill Croissant.
Playing trombone are Bob Madden, Charlie Port, Katie Patterson, Dan Loucks, and Stephanie Benson, who also doubles on clarinet. David Switzer, Nina Trego, Tracy Loucks, and Rick Kane make up the trumpet section. The rhythm section is comprised of Sue Briggs on bass guitar, Terri Limes on keyboard, Bob White on guitar, and director, Frank Furfaro on drums. Vocalists this season include Bob Madden, singing Frank Sinatra’s ” I Wanna Be Around” that will have the girls swooning, and Stephanie Benson singing “Embraceable You” that may do the same for the boys!
The Big Band Sound, Inc., with its timeless music pleasing audiences everywhere, has performed for festivals, concerts, and social events throughout Central Pennsylvania including the People’s Choice Festival in Boalsburg and Raystown Lake Amphitheater.
Summer Sunday concerts begin at 6 p.m., and, in the event of rain, will be held in the Lutheran Church on Logan Avenue and Thirteenth Street.
All concerts are made possible by a grant from the PA Council on the Arts, a state agency, the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and Tyrone Borough.
Concerts are free of charge and audience members should bring a chair or blanket for seating. For additional information contact the Arts Line Office at 684-ART2.
